Life and Work with Celeste Chin

Celeste was recently featured in Voyage MIA, a publication that highlights the best of the Miami area. You can read the entire article here: https://voyagemia.com/interview/life-work-with-celeste-chin/

Meet Celeste Chin

by Canvas Rebel

Jan 4, 2023

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Celeste Chin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Celeste, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I’ve been writing since my childhood. But when it came time to choose a career path, I took, what I perceived as, the safe route and decided to study accounting. Fast forward many years, and I had two children, both boys, who were reluctant readers. Add to that the books that were well-written for their interests were few and far between. We had our favorite authors, but the overall youth market didn’t bring much to the table for them. So I created stories that appealed to their interests, reigniting my passion for writing.

Fast forward to their teen years, my eldest was a competitive junior golfer struggling with his mental game. So we took him to a well-known sports psychologist who worked with many collegiate and professional athletes. The long and short of it, the information Dr. Nick shared proved eye-opening, and I knew it needed to be shared with every youth sports parent – it was and is that critical. So, I approached Dr. Nick about it when he had completed his sessions with my son, and we moved forward as co-authors.

A year later, we were hunting for publishers, and given Dr. Nick’s impressive resume, time on television, contacts, and notoriety, I assumed it would be reasonably easy to sell. After all, no other books like it were available, and parents needed this information from an expert. But what I learned through that search opened my eyes to the industry, and eventually, I decided to self-publish. However, I didn’t want to be one and done, nor to produce a poor quality self-published book so often seen on the market. So I hired professional editors and an excellent graphic designer to help us produce a high-quality read.

At the time, I was also involved with a writing group and loved working with other writers. So there were many arrows pointing me toward developing a business to not only publish my book but to help other writers elevate their content and self-publish books of mainstream quality. For me, it’s all about changing how readers, like myself, view self-published work.

Years later, I have a fantastic team of professionals who share my passion for writing. We’ve worked with many authors who’ve published books on topics such as psychology, business, insurance, as well as many memoirs. We’ve had many reach the Amazon best-seller lists, and one recently was a finalist in the Reader’s Choice Awards.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I kept a notebook of stories going all the time and would read them to my parents often. I wrote for a creative release from a stressful career as I got older. Once I began raising children, I took writing courses, and that’s when I found my writing group. We came together organically, and I still interact with them today. They taught me so much, and I even have a few of them working with me now.

My company was created partly by what I saw in pursuit of a traditional publishing house to pick up my book on the mental benefits of youth sports and by working with my writing group. Not only did we critique one another’s work, but we shared our publishing woes, so to speak. Many of these individuals self-published. And as a huge reader, I shy away from self-published books because, quite often, they aren’t edited by a professional, not proofread, and the covers are bought online. In essence, they scream simple, raw work. If I’m paying for a book to read, I don’t want to be disappointed by a lack of character development, flow, or plot not working, for example. Couple that with knowing there are great writers out there not being picked up by traditional publishers, and my company was born.

We are a company dedicated to providing a reasonably priced way to self-publish a quality book that is traditional publishing quality. At Creative License Publishing (CLP), we offer editing, proofreading, and graphic design work to produce a mainstream-quality book. We won’t help anyone publish who wants to upload and “see what happens.” For us, developmental and copy edits are the first essential step. If the content fails, no matter what our graphic designer does, the book won’t resonate with the reader.

But CLP is not just about elevating self-published books. We also provide services for those authors who are seeking traditional publishers as well. Most of those authors come to us for beta reads and developmental edits to raise the chances of getting noticed by an agent or publisher. What differentiates us from the myriad of beta reading services is that we have a comprehensive group of readers through all genres. This allows us to match the manuscript with a beta reader representing its target market. For example, if you are writing a romance novel, we will pair you with a reader who loves romance novels. It does you no good to be paired with a science fiction enthusiast to beta read your work, they won’t get it, and their feedback to you will be useless. Unfortunately, many beta reader providers give you an editor, writer, or reader based on availability, not interest. And we don’t just give you a short opinion. All of our readers must answer, in detail, a four-page questionnaire about the manuscript to provide you with directive feedback on where the manuscript can be improved. We also offer a follow-up call to discuss our findings and discuss anything the writer may be confused about or needs more guidance on. We aren’t a take your money, give you a half-hearted review, and leave you to figure it out company.

But our ghostwriting services are one of the fastest-growing portions of our business. Many individuals that come to us don’t want to write but have dreamed of authoring a book for business, personal memoir, or even fiction. We provide a very personal service and do not approach this with formulaic questioning. Every ghostwriting project starts with an introductory conversation to determine wants and goals, and the process is tailored to fit the client from there. No two clients are alike, and we strive to make this process easy and enjoyable for them. My favorite thing to do daily is work with clients on these books.

I am so proud of the company we have built. My team and I all care about each author and genuinely want them to succeed. We are all creators at heart and strive for perfection every single day. We’ve had many successes with our clients, from Amazon Bestsellers to a Reader’s Choice Award finalist. But as I tell all of our self-published authors, for your book to succeed, it must be of mainstream quality, and you must be ready to market it once we deliver. From what we’ve seen, the ones that take that message seriously have had the best results!

This business is not for the faint of heart! But to succeed, it’s all about getting the right help, and that’s why I created CLP.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission from the start has been two-fold. First, to help good writers become great writers. And second, for those who wish to self-publish, to change the stigma of self-published work from less-than to on-par with traditionally published books.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I started CLP with all the research into creating the business plan, I felt that one particular product would resonate with writers most and be our bread and butter. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I had to shift my mindset and refocus my business plan. This took some understanding from a legal and business perspective, when getting our ducks in a row, so to speak, and going with the change. But, what I had not prepared for initially, turned out to be the best thing creatively and for our bottom line. I’m so thankful to be serving the client’s needs as we are now.

Contact Info:

Website: https://www.creativelicensepublishing.com/

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Local businesses partner to help authors with the publishing process

January 3rd, 2020

Creative License Publishing and Pfeifer Design are pleased to announce the joining of their creative talents to assist all writers who want to be self-published. Their goal is to provide writers with a mainstream quality read, in both substance and appearance, while the writer maintains the creative and financial benefits of self-publishing.

Celeste Chin, Founder and President of Creative License Publishing, LLC., said, “Our writers will work with quality editors, both developmental and copy, beta-readers specifically chosen from their target market, and graphic designers to create a superior cover, interior illustrations, and format. We bring a more personalized service and attention to detail than other hybrid firms; making every book we produce a page-turning, well-worn read.”

If you have a story to tell and you want to self-publish, contact Creative License Publishing today for a free personalized estimate. They look forward to getting your “must read” into the hands of readers everywhere!

About Creative License Publishing, LLC:

Creative License Publishing LLC, of Chatham, NJ and headed by Celeste Chin, is a writing consulting group with a wide selection of services to help authors get their manuscripts polished and ready for publishing. You can find out more from their website www.creativelicensepublishing.com

About Pfeifer Design:

Kris Pfeifer, of Pfeifer Design, LLC of Madison NJ is principle of a full-service graphic design studio that provides creative graphic solutions with personalized attention from the initial consultation to project completion. For more information please go to www.pfeiferdesign.com